Inhale, exhale and reset
by charliespike18
Summary: Rey is born in winter. Cold invading her bones. Funny then, isn't it, that she ends up where she does. - can be read as a second part of In the architecture of the soul.


_We inhale, exhale and reset,_

 _Every living thing,_

 _In this constant state of unrest_

 _\- Overture, Sleeping at Last_

* * *

Rey is born in winter. Cold invading her bones.

Funny then, isn't it, that she ends up where she does.

….

Poe is born in Autumn. Down far below the surface so the bombs don't kill him.

Funny then, isn't it, how he spends most of his life in the sky.

….

FN-2187 is born in spring. All his family have come to see him.

Funny then, isn't it, that he ends up with no family left at all.

…

Rey's family leave her when she's is five.

She remembers them.

….

Poe's parents are never there, always off doing something more important.

He wants to forget them.

….

FN-2187 is taken from his family when he is a baby.

He doesn't remember them.

...

The medical bay is cold. Sterile. No life. Just machines and Droids beeping incoherently all at once.

Rey sits by Finn, her hands in his. He is as cold as the room, too. Like ice.

Poe stands by the door watching her. He's just come from a strategy meeting with the general. He watched Leia closely and saw the ghosts flicker in her eyes.

How lonely she looked, he thinks, in a room full of people.

Rey doesn't look up. She doesn't notice Poe's presence. She's speaking quietly, so much so that he can't hear what it is that she's saying. Something about sticking together. About getting through this.

She's going to find Luke Skywalker. This is one of the things he learnt in the strategy meeting. She wants to go alone - that's what they say. Poe wonders if they'll let her.

He wonders too, why she wasn't at the meeting to start with – when she was the main topic of conversation. It dawns on him that that might be why she wasn't there; because they wanted to talk, to discuss her and her powers. The force is strong in her – even Poe can see that.

Rey turns a little in her seat - she's been here long enough that the cold is starting to get to her. Finn's hand is warm from hers but the heat is disappearing fast. She is reminded again of the planet where she and Finn fought Kylo Ren.

Where they fought Ben Solo.

It was as so cold there. The coldest place she has ever been.

Poe went to Hoth once, years ago now – nearly froze to death when it was too snowy to fly the X-wings. That was the coldest he's ever been.

Rey turns and notices Poe for the first time. She stares at him for a moment – debating weather to say anything.

She doesn't speak but doesn't look away. The droids keep moving and the machines keep beeping but Rey and Poe are still in the chaos.

...

Han Solo is the first person that Rey sees die.

And she can't do anything but watch.

She can't stop it.

…

His brother is the first person Poe sees die.

He tries and tries to save him, blood covering him as he pull away parts of the broken fighter jet.

But he can't stop it.

The first person FN-2187 sees die is Stormstrooper FT-2368.

He watches the white of the suit turns to red as blood seeps out.

He watches as another Stormstrooper put FT out of his misery.

He doesn't try to stop it.

….

She thinks she's going to die. – Kylo Ren's lightsaber pushing Skywalker's one to her throat.

One step backward and she is off a cliff. One step forward and the same fate awaits her.

She closes her eyes.

She uses the force.

She doesn't die.

…

Poe thinks he's going to die as the tie fighter hurtles toward Jakku. The planet is getting closer and closer and the image of his brothers crumpled body appears in his minds eyes.

He fights with the controls, trying to go up when all the ship wants to do is go down.

He closes his eyes and waits.

He nearly dies.

…

Finn thinks he's going to die as Kylo Ren starts to overpower him.

He doesn't know how to use a lightsaber. He doesn't know how to defeat one of the men he spent years serving. He flies backward in the air and the pain hits him.

He might die.

…

Rey stands by Poe – they're both in the control room watching as the last preparation to the plan to find Skywalker are completed.

Finn still isn't awake. He still lies in the medical bay - his wounds healing in the hope that it will be enough to bring him back to life.

Leia stands opposite them, eyes searching the room for someone she will never find.

They're all the same – Poe thinks – him, Rey, Leia and Finn; none of them have anyone left anymore. They have no hope. All lost in different ways, but they have all lost it.

Leia says something and people jump to life, moving – flicking switches and calling instructions but Rey and Poe don't do anything. They stand and watch.

BB-8 rolls into the room and comes to a stop next to Poe. The Droid beeps and turns his head to Rey. He asks if they are alright. Poe looks to Rey and then over at Leia before turning back to BB-8. He shrugs.

They are not alright, Rey thinks, but they are better than they have been.

Rey grew up on a planet where scavenging was all she knew.

Funny, isn't it, that she ends up in the New Republic base.

…

Poe grew up on a planet he learnt to fly to get away from.

Funny, isn't it, that he ends up in the New Republic base.

…

Finn grew up on a planet where discipline was key and weakness was not an option.

Funny, isn't it, that he ends up in the New Republic base.


End file.
